General Sea Turtle Information

Sea
turtles are among the largest living reptiles. They have scales and a bony
shell, are cold-blooded, breathe air, and lay their eggs on land. Sea turtles
are long-lived, although scientists are uncertain how long they live because
there is no known way to determine their age. Unlike the land turtles from which
they evolved, sea turtles spend almost their entire lives in the sea. They glide
gracefully through the water with flipper-like forelimbs and a streamlined
shell. Sea turtles frequently come to the surface to breathe when active, but
they can remain underwater for several hours when resting.

Of the six sea turtle species that are found in U.S. waters or that nest on
U.S. beaches, all are designated as either threatened or endangered under the Endangered
Species Act. Endangered status means a species is considered in
danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range; threatened
means it is likely to become endangered.

Sea turtles are highly migratory and utilize the waters of more than one
country in their lifetimes. Thus, sea turtles are shared resources among many
nations.
Loggerhead,
Green,
Leatherback,
and
Hawksbill
sea turtles regularly nest on beaches within the U.S. and all depend upon U.S.
coastal waters for foraging and migratory habitat during certain stages of their
life history. The
Kemp's
Ridley sea turtle, which occasionally nests in the U.S., is dependent on the
shallow coastal habitats of the U.S. east coast and the Gulf of Mexico for
foraging and developmental habitat. However, all of these species migrate
outside U.S. boundaries during their lifetimes. In addition, the
Olive Ridley sea
turtle does not nest in the U.S., but during feeding migrations, Olive Ridley
turtles nesting in the Pacific may disperse into waters of the southwestern
U.S., occasionally as far north as Oregon. Because sea turtles are shared
resources, conservation efforts for turtle populations in one country may be
jeopardized by activities in another country. Protecting sea turtles on U.S.
nesting beaches and in U.S. waters therefore is not sufficient alone to ensure
the continued existence of these species. Cooperation among nations is critical
to ensure the survival of sea turtles.

The Fish and Wildlife Service and National
Marine Fisheries Service share Federal jurisdiction for sea turtles with the
Fish and Wildlife Service having lead responsibility on the nesting beaches and
the National Marine Fisheries Service, the marine environment. Federal
responsibilities and programs include development and implementation of
recovery
plans, land acquisition, cooperative programs with States, consultation
with other federal agencies on projects they fund, permit, or conduct;
international cooperation; promulgation of regulations to reduce take;
permitting of activities for research or education involving take; and
development of habitat conservation plans.

For more information on the Fish and Wildlife Service’s sea/marine turtle program, write to:

Current Initiatives

NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed today to reclassify the green sea turtle under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and list turtles originating from two breeding populations currently considered endangered as threatened due to improvements in their populations.

After a review of the global status of green sea turtles, the agencies are proposing to reclassify the species into 11 Distinct Population Segments (DPS) under the ESA, which maintains federal protections while providing a more tailored approach for managers to address specific threats facing different populations.

More information about the 11 DPS and the proposed status of each population can be found here: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/turtles/green.htm. The Florida and Mexican Pacific Coast breeding populations are encompassed within the North Atlantic and East Pacific DPS respectively.

Green sea turtle populations will continue to be protected under the ESA.

The agencies just completed an extended public comment period for this proposal and are now reviewing the information provided relevant to the status change. This includes potential critical habitat for the green sea turtle and any information that will help ensure that the final determination is based on the best available scientific and commercial information. Critical habitat in Puerto Rico that was designated in 1998 is proposed to remain in effect for the North Atlantic DPS. The extended public comment period closed September 25, 2015.

Coastal Beach Critical Habitat for the Recovery
of Northwest Atlantic Population of Loggerhead Sea Turtles

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated about 685 miles of coastal beach habitat as important for the recovery of the threatened Northwest Atlantic Ocean population of loggerhead sea turtles, as directed by the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The terrestrial critical habitat areas include 88 nesting beaches in coastal counties located in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. These beaches account for 48 percent of an estimated 1,531 miles of coastal beach shoreline and about 84 percent of the documented nesting (numbers of nests) within these six states.